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from the flocks, and the shepherds then gave him the name of Alexandros.

Ilion was the principal theatre of tragic events among those countries which lay without the boundaries of Greece. "A day was to come in which Ilion should fall, and Priam's royal race be extinguished." This was the decree of Destiny, against which neither gods nor men could prevail; all circumstances must concur to bring about its accomplishment.

Eris, the goddess of discord, enraged at being the only one of the celestials who had not received an invitation to the marriage of Peleus with the silver-footed Thetis, contrived to throw into the assembly of the gods who were celebrating the nuptials a golden apple, which bore the inscription, "Destined to the fairest." Juno, Minerva, and Venus, were unanimously ac knowledged the most worthy to contend for the prize.

None of the gods being willing to undertake the office of awarding it, and thereby incur the inevitable risk of offending two powerful beauties of Olympos, Jupiter commanded Mercury to lead the three deities to mount Ida, and intrust the decision to Paris, whose judgment was to be definitive. The three goddesses consenting to this appeared before him, each privately endea voring to influence him by the promise of such gifts as she thought most likely to bias his judgment. The majestic Juno, while she haughtily demanded the prize as her right, signified her intention to confer the greatest riches and dignity upon the giver of it. Minerva offered him a diadem, the symbol of thrones, as well as the pure and lasting pleasure with which wisdom rewards her votaries. At last Venus advanced; "I will give thee a wife," said she, "whose exquisite beauty will induce mortals to say, were Venus to descend upon earth, she would appear in such a form as Helena's." The shepherd awarded the golden apple to Venus. Venus was intent upon the fulfilment of her promise, while Paris suffered the unrelenting enmity of her two disappointed rivals, which was extended also to his whole family, and the entire Trojan race.

Soon after this event, Priamos proposed a contest among his sons and other princes, promising to reward the conqueror with one of his finest bulls from Mount Ida. On sending to procure the animal, it was found in the possession of Paris, who reluctantly

yielded it up. The shepherd, desirous of recovering his favorite, went to Ilion, and entered the lists of the combatants.

Paris proved successful against every competitor, and gained an advantage over Hector himself. The prince, irritated at finding himself vanquished by an unknown stranger, pursued him closely, and Paris must have fallen a victim to his brother's resentment, had he not fled to the altar of Jupiter. This sacred place of refuge saved his life. Cassandra, the daughter of Priam, struck with the similarity of Paris' features to those of her own brothers, inquired his birth and age. From these circumstances she soon discovered that he was her brother, and as such she introduced him to her father. Priamos, forgetting the alarming predictions of Esacos, acknowledged Paris as his son, and all enmity instantly ceased between him and his brother.

Priamos, having reigned for many years in great prosperity, expressed a wish to recover his sister Hêsionê, who had redeemed him from captivity. To carry this plan into execution, he manned a fleet, and gave the command of it to Paris, at the same time ordering him to bring back Hêsionê. At the instigation of Venus, Paris proceeded on his memorable voyage to Greece, from which the soothsaying Cassandra in vain endeavored to detain him.

Arriving at Sparta, where Menelaos, the husband of Helena, was reigning, he met with a hospitable reception; but Menelaos, having soon after sailed to Crete, Paris availed himself of his absence, gained the affections of Helena, and bore her away to his native city, together with a large portion of wealth belonging to her husband.

Helena was the daughter of Jupiter and Leda, and fosterdaughter of Tyndareos, king of Lacedæmon. The fame of her beauty had spread over all Greece, and drew many kings to the court of Tyndareos, in the hope of obtaining her as a wife. While Tyndareos was flattered at seeing his daughter, and consequently himself who had the disposal of her, so highly honored, he entertained the well grounded fear, that since she could be given to but one of the suitors, the pretended friendship of the rest might change to hatred and revenge, which would become dangerous to him.

In this dilemma he consulted Ulysses, king of Ithaca, who was

renowned for his prudence throughout all Greece. Ulysses advised him to assemble all the suitors of Helena, and require of them a solemn oath, that they would acquiesce in her choice, and with their united power protect the preferred lover against every one who might dispute with him the quiet possession of his rightfully gained treasure.

Tyndareos followed his advice. The assembled kings submitted to his proposal, and Helena made choice of Menelaos, brother to Agamemnon, king of Mycena. They lived happily together until Paris entered Sparta, and repaid the kindness of Menelaos with the blackest ingratitude, by persuading Helena to leave her husband, and accompany him to Troy.

Menelaos, deprived of his adored wife, became incensed, and caused all Greece to re-echo his complaints against Priam's treacherous son. The kings were reminded of the oaths they had taken, and hastened to act accordingly. Every soul was exasperated against Paris, not only on account of his having carried off a citizen of a foreign country, but particularly for his having so grossly violated the sacred rights of hospitality. Ambassadors were immediately despatched to Priamos to complain of the offence perpetrated against all Greece, and also to reclaim the ravished Helena; but the old, hapless king, influenced by the machinations of his son, and by his own paternal love, suffered them to return, without granting them their just demand.

The kings of Greece, with Agamemnon at their head, then formed a coalition, swearing to overthrow the city of Troy. Each one fitted out and manned as many ships as he had at his disposal, and the whole fleet assembled in the harbor of Aulis. The chief leaders in this war were :-Agamemnôn, king of My. cenæ; Menelaos, king of Sparta ; Nestôr, king of Pylus; Diomêdês, the son of Tydeus; Ajax, the son of Telamôn; Odysseus, king of Ithaca; Patroclos, the son of Mencetius; Podaleirios and Macháôn, the sons of Asclepios; Philoctêtês, the last companion of Heracles; Sthenelos, the son of Capaneus; Thersandros, the son of Polyneices; and Idomeneus, the grandson of Minôs.

The heroes wished particularly to obtain the assistance of Achilleus. His mother had seen with pleasure the warlike ardor of her son, but knowing that he must perish in the flower of his age, after having achieved the most brilliant exploits, she

prevailed upon Lycomêdês to receive him in the dress of a female, among the attendants of his daughter, Dêidameia. The Greeks discovered the artifice, and sent Diomêdês, Odysseus, and Agyrtes to the palace, disguised as merchants. They had concealed arms in their dress, and also among the articles of traffic offered to Dêidameia and her attendants. Each selected what best pleased her taste. Achilleus seized upon a spear and lance, when he was recognised by Odysseus. The trumpet of Agyrtes still more excited his warlike ardor, and he left Dêidameia in tears, who had conceived a tender passion for him, and joined the army of the Greeks.

Agamemnôn, the most powerful of the Grecian kings, was chosen chief of the expedition. The army then offered a solemn sacrifice, during which a serpent appeared which devoured nine little birds in their nest, and afterwards their mother. Calchas interpreted the presage, by saying that the siege would last ten years.

The fleet lay a long time in the harbor waiting for a fair wind. Agamemnôn, having killed a deer in the chase, boasted that he was superior in skill to Diana. The offended goddess sent adverse winds to detain them, and through the mouth of the augur, Calchas, demanded Iphigeneia, Agamemnôn's daughter, as a propitiatory sacrifice. Iphigeneia, accompanied by her mother, was conducted to the altar of the indignant goddess, and the sacrificial knife already flashed in the hand of the priest, when she was involved in a cloud by Diana, and transported to Tauris. A roe stood in the place of Iphigeneia.

After Diana was propitiated, the fleet steered with a fair wind out of the harbor of Aulis, and landed safely on the shores of Troas, where siege was immediately laid to the city of Troy.

Meanwhile, Priam was spending the remainder of a long and peaceful life in the midst of a numerous family. The industrious citizens, whose commerce flourished, lived in affluence and tranquillity, and the husbandman exulted in the hope that his labors would meet with a due reward. In fine, that harmony so bene. ficial, so requisite to the peace of society, prevailed in Troas.

An army of Greeks now makes its appearance, and universal confusion ensues. Fear takes possession of every breast. The inhabitants of the country seek refuge in the city, the gates of which are instantly closed. The brave Hector flies

to the ramparts. His example cheers the most disheartened. They gather round him, follow him in every sally, and for ten years resist every effort of the Greeks.

In this war all the celestials took part, espousing either the side of the Greeks or that of the Trojans. Imperial Jove sat on the top of Mount Ida, holding the balance in his mighty hand, and directing the fate of the combatants. In favor of the Greeks were the majestic Juno, the queen of the heavens; the severe Pallas-Athênê, the goddess of wisdom; Neptune, the ruler of the waves; Vulcan, the god of fire; and Mercury, the swift messenger of the immortals. On the side of the Trojans stood Venus, the goddess of beauty, Apollo, the god of music, Diana, the goddess of the chase, and Latona. Mars, as the god of war, went from one army to the other, siding now with the Greeks, and now with the Trojans.

Homeric.-The cause of the detention of the Greeks for ten years before the city of Troy, without being able to get possession of it, was the wrath of Achilles against Agamemnôn, who had deprived him of his slave, the fair Briseis. Agamemnôn had received the beautiful Chryseïs as a part of the booty at the taking of Thebes. Her father, who was a priest of Apollo, went to the camp of the Greeks, supplicating for the release of his daughter, and offering an ample ransom. Agamemnon refused to release Chryseïs on any terms; and moreover, loaded the wretched old man, who stood before him supplicating for the restitution of his beloved and only child, with ignominious words and menaces. Perceiving that his entreaties were ineffectual, the priest lifted up his hands to Apollo, praying him to avenge the injury done to his servant, and to punish the cruelty of the Greeks. Apollo heard the supplication of the wretched father, and highly incensed against Agamemnôn, as well as his followers, shot several of his arrows into the camp of the Greeks, thus causing a pestilence that swept away multitudes of the people.

At length, through the augur Calchas, it was revealed through whose guilt, and for what cause, the people of Greece were suffering. Agamemnôn, at the entreaties of all his allies, could no longer refuse to restore Chryseïs to her father, but at the same time, he demanded to be indemnified for his loss, by another part

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